Without warning, USCIS announced that as of March 12, 2019, it is resuming premium processing for all H-1B petitions. This means that for an additional fee of $1,410, USCIS will guarantee a 15-calendar day processing time. By the close of the 15th day, USCIS will issue an approval, a denial, or a Request for Evidence (RFE). If the 15-day guarantee is not met, USCIS will refund the $1,410 fee.
Requests for premium processing can be made with the initial filing, as an interfiling, or with an RFE response. USCIS has cautioned that if the original case was transferred, the request for premium processing must be sent to the USCIS Service Center currently handling the case.
Although this announcement appears to include all of the cap cases that are scheduled to be received by USCIS on April 1, 2019, it is possible that USCIS will change its policy and once again temporarily suspend premium processing for those cases, as it did last year. In the past, USCIS has given little advance notice of such a suspension.
